Thursday, November 20, 2008

Homeschooling Statistics

By Shannon on Monday, January 22, 2007
Filed Under: Homeschooling

I’ve been gathering various statistics on homeschooling and some of them are rather interesting. Here are a few that might spark discussion:

A nationwide study (Ray, 1990), using a random sample of 1,516 families from one organization’s membership, found home educated students to be scoring, on average, at or above the 80th percentile in all areas on standardized achievement tests. The national average on standardized achievement tests is the 50th percentile.
Each home-educated student saves taxpayers an average of $7,100 every year, since homeschooling families pay taxes toward the school system but their children are not using the school’s resources.
Regulation does not mean success. There has been no difference found in homeschoolers who are educated by a “certified” parent and those taught by a parent with no teaching credentials, nor between the level of regulation the state has — homeschooled students consistently scored in the high 80’s on battery tests.
Dr. Larry Shyers, in his PhD thesis research, concluded that contact with adults, rather than contact with other children, is most important in developing social skills in children.

Source: http://www.nheri.org

statistics, homeschool, academic achievement, socialization

6 Comment(s)

petite mommy | Jan 22, 2007 | Reply

Thanks for compiling all of these statistics. I like them. I might post some of them on my blog with a link back to you of course.
Judy Aron | Jan 23, 2007 | Reply

NHERI’s stats are a bit skewed as they really only sample HSLDA members.
There are a bunch of other studies out there done by the CATO Institute and other independent organizations. I’d be happy to email you a bunch of links to some other studies. Now you got me thinking…I might even do a whole blog post about homeschool statistical studies..
Rachel Whetzel | Jan 25, 2007 | Reply

As a Homeschooled child now grown up, I didn’t need the stats to know that I had a better education than most PS students, but it was neat to read the site’s info! Lots of thing on there! I’d be interested to see the statistics of comparison on thing like the drop out rate of PS vs. HS. That would be an interesting one. Or the ratio of PS vs. HS adults who “fail” as grown ups. (ie: end up in jail, etc.)
Katie | May 2, 2007 | Reply

I need feedback. I want to homeschool, but do I need to be a secluded mom, who cant call herself ‘cool’ and keep her house clean? My husband is in the Navy, so no help there with the extra time it takes to educate.- Thanks, Kate
Jenny | May 31, 2007 | Reply

If there are homeschool groups in your area there is no reason to become secluded as you can have one day a week with other homeschoolers. There are lots of field trip opportunities and of course errands, playtimes, church, etc. If you are a social person you can just tailor your homeschooling style to be social as well.

I want to be cool too, though I can’t say I succeed all the time- I’ve been homeschooling for just two years and I try to make time to look nice. What’s the hardest for me is finding time to develop my own interests. Haven’t figured out how to balance that yet.

I encourage you to give it a try!

Jenny
Beverley Paine | Feb 29, 2008 | Reply

Statistics are always useful - thanks for gathering them. Of course, we can find stats to back up any argument… Families new to the idea of homeschooling often find statistics reassuring, especially those that present information in ways that can be used to persuade in-laws and relatives that we’re not about to destroy our children’s lives by teaching them at home!

We homeschooled our three children for 20 years and we’re all very happy with the outcome. Statistically we’re a relatively average family - wonderfully normal, except that we homeschooled!

cheers
Beverley
http://homeschoolaustralia.com